SPRIND announces Circular Biomanufacturing Challenge
40 million euro to develop new bioprocessing technologies in order to integrate waste stream valorization through biomanufacturing concepts
The German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation is announcing the SPRIND Challenge Circular Biomanufacturing. In this three-year innovation competition, up to eight teams will be funded to develop novel bioprocessing techniques that valorize raw materials from waste streams and integrate the output of the biomanufacturing processes into conventional manufacturing practices.
Today our production is based almost entirely on using newly mined raw materials or resources. The extraction and processing of new raw materials and resources continues to be an enormous burden on the environment and society. A transition to a circular economy that manufactures new products with existing raw materials and resources facilitates more sustainable and resilient manufacturing. A key role in making this state possible is biomanufacturing because these manufacturing processes use comparably less energy and is less labor intensive, while converting waste streams into valued feedstock.
Today our production is based almost entirely on using newly mined raw materials or resources. The extraction and processing of new raw materials and resources continues to be an enormous burden on the environment and society. A transition to a circular economy that manufactures new products with existing raw materials and resources facilitates more sustainable and resilient manufacturing. A key role in making this state possible is biomanufacturing because these manufacturing processes use comparably less energy and is less labor intensive, while converting waste streams into valued feedstock.
Recent scientific advances have led to new insights and methods which have significantly improved biomanufacturing processes and identified novel possibilities to employ biomanufacturing techniques more effectively. Although some biomanufacturing technologies have demonstrated their value in niche markets, the challenge still remains to scale biomanufacturing capabilities to industrial scale and integrate these into existing manufacturing processes, in order to replace or augment costly and labor intensive petro-chemical manufacturing.
“Using the SPRIND Challenge vehicle, this specific Challenge, entitled Circular Biomanufacturing, we will seek to develop an end-to-end prototype, which consumes valorized waste streams under continuous fermentation conditions to produce intermediary or final materials,” explains Dr. Jano Costard, Challenge Officer at SPRIND. “The goal is to establish novel biomanufacturing processes that utilize locally available (secondary) raw materials and are closed, sustainable, environmentally friendly system and resilient to market fluctuations.”
“Using the SPRIND Challenge vehicle, this specific Challenge, entitled Circular Biomanufacturing, we will seek to develop an end-to-end prototype, which consumes valorized waste streams under continuous fermentation conditions to produce intermediary or final materials,” explains Dr. Jano Costard, Challenge Officer at SPRIND. “The goal is to establish novel biomanufacturing processes that utilize locally available (secondary) raw materials and are closed, sustainable, environmentally friendly system and resilient to market fluctuations.”
SPRIND is calling upon talented teams to submit their innovative ideas on how to advance biomanufacturing technologies to reach the goal of the Challenge. An expert panel will down select up to eight teams for the first round of financing. The teams will be supported by SPRIND, receive expert consultation and will be connected with a broad network of subject matter experts.
For this SPRIND Challenge, which starts on November 1, 2023, 40 million Euros will be made available to support the three-year competition. Teams will be evaluated each year to determine which teams will be eligible to receive the following year of funding.
The submission deadline for this SPRIND Challenge is September 17th, 2023. More information can be found here.
For this SPRIND Challenge, which starts on November 1, 2023, 40 million Euros will be made available to support the three-year competition. Teams will be evaluated each year to determine which teams will be eligible to receive the following year of funding.
The submission deadline for this SPRIND Challenge is September 17th, 2023. More information can be found here.
Up to eight teams will be selected by the jury
28 JULY 2023, 15:00—16:00
Webinar on the Challenge
You think you have found a way to to develop an end-to-end prototype that processes various carbonaceous waste streams into new products as a continuous bioproduction process? Is your approach deeply rooted in science yet so ambitious that it seems outlandish, even impossible, to many people? If yes, the new SPRIND Challenge might be for you! In this webinar, our Challenge Officer, Jano Costard, and Innovation Manager, Patrick Rose, will introduce you to SPRIND and our Challenge „Circular Biomanufacturing". Learn about the goals of this Challenge, its fast & unbureaucratic funding mechanism, how we provide support to participating teams and, last but not least, how the application process works. A Q&A session at the end of the webinar will complement the presentation.
Please register here in advance.
Please register here in advance.